A review of Channel 4’s Women’s Development Programme · 2019-09-16 · Investing in women’s development – the approach we took 6 Taking the experience back to the business

A review of Channel 4’s Women’s Development Programme

RISE – A REVIEW OF CHANNEL 4’S WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME RISE – A REVIEW OF CHANNEL 4’S WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

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Why women’s development matters to us at Channel 4 3

Investing in women’s development – the approach we took 6

Taking the experience back to the business 16

Lessons learnt 19

Next steps for RISE 20

InsideSince we started broadcasting in 1982, we have proudly built a reputation as a high-profile advocate for inclusion and a passionate champion of diversity, respected across the industry for our pioneering work both on and off screen.

In 2017 our new CEO Alex Mahon – the first ever female CEO of a major UK broadcaster – energetically set about creating a culture where everyone could reach their full potential in an environment which respects, embraces and harnesses the uniqueness of individuals and their talents.

Against this backdrop, the publishing of Channel 4’s gender pay data in 2018, which revealed a mean average pay gap of 28.6%, came as a huge disappointment, and only stood to reinforce how, even in an organisation

that is fully committed to inclusion and diversity, there are still real obstacles to female progression and gender equality.

Since reporting the gender pay gap, our focus has been on taking steps to ensure we address the underlying issues that are reflected in the figure, and specifically, why we have too few women in senior positions. On the basis that what gets measured gets done, we have committed to the goal of a 50:50 gender balance in our top 100 earners by 2023.

This report provides a detailed case study of the work we have undertaken to understand the challenges that led us to this point, and to put in place an initiative that helps us to meet our goal and support our commitment to increasing female progression across all parts of Channel 4.

At Channel 4 our remit is to be innovative, inspire change, nurture talent and to offer a platform for alternative views.


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Why women’s development matters to us at Channel 4Our gender pay gap reporting revealed a mean gender pay gap of 28.6%, whilst our analysis also showed a smaller proportion of women at more senior levels: from 57% across our total population, to 41% at Head of Department level and 22% at Executive level.

THE CHALLENGES WE FACED

Despite employing a greater proportion of women than other UK broadcasters, the flat structure meant that there were limited upward opportunities and no clearly defined career path for women to follow. There were also very few female role models who could show progression to senior level from within the organisation and concerns about line manager support and sponsorship. All these factors contributed to a lack of confidence and motivation amongst the female population.

THE OPPORTUNITY WE SAW

Whilst the decision to invest in women’s development at Channel 4 may have been triggered by these issues, the reasons to invest were very much linked to our business needs and strategic objectives. Research by Gartner,

the world’s leading research and advisory company shows that:

• Organisations perform better when there is increased female representation at senior levels – with organisations in the top quartile for leadership gender diversity reporting a 41% higher return on equity than those without women on their executive committees

• Most women are not being developed effectively by their own senior leadership team – with 55% of female leaders believing that senior executives are ineffective at leader-led development

• Female leaders are less confident about their capabilities than male colleagues, resulting in fewer seeking more senior positions – with 49% of women self-rating as ready for the next role versus 60% of men.

At Channel 4 specifically we saw the opportunity as a potential game changer, helping us to achieve our strategic ambitions by accelerating our ability to:

• Increase the diversity of women at more senior roles at C4 and grow a pipeline by preparing successors for when the opportunity arises

• Creating a broad network of individuals with diverse experiences and viewpoints to help us drive change and break down barriers

• Grow the confidence and motivation in our women to take on ambitious roles who can act as mentors for future generations of women

• Nurture and cultivate talent and support our women to progress within C4 and the wider media industry

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Investing in women’s development

THE APPROACH WE TOOK

To be effective we knew that we needed to take a long term and iterative approach – learning lessons from every stage and ensuring that this was positioned as a key cross business initiative. From the start the programme which was initiated and delivered by L&D, was championed by our CEO and backed by senior leaders across the business.

2017 PILOT

Following the results of an engagement survey in 2016, which revealed several obstacles to women progressing within Channel 4, we ran a pilot for 13 women working in Commissioning. This pilot started with a discovery day which aimed to uncover the areas of development and support that the participants felt would be most valuable.

The emerging themes, which focused around personal leadership, impact and gravitas, leadership and career management, were then used to reshape the L&D framework and to create a series of 5 peer learning sessions for the women, that aimed to increase the self-awareness and quality of conversations surrounding personal leadership and to grow the confidence of the women on the pilot, through building community, support system and learning together.

The five sessions were run under the title of Exercising My Strengths and covered in summary:

Session 1: Playing to strengths – using the Strengthscope profile to explore signature strengths

Session 2: Aspiration and Awareness – an opportunity to explore career aspirations and align these with personal values in order to develop a path of possibilities

Session 3: Action – identifying productive habits and creating a personal development plan

Session 4: Agility – how to navigate through any blockers; bounce back from setbacks and explore enablers

Session 5: Acknowledge – a chance for reflection and a one to one debrief

The feedback from the pilot programme was universally positive – with participants feeling that taking part had improved their confidence, gravitas and helped them to manage their career more effectively.

The completion of this programme coincided with our gender pay gap reporting. This accelerated the search for ideas and initiatives that could address the underlying issues facing women at Channel 4. Given their recent experience, the L&D team recommended building on the success of the pilot by developing a Women’s Development Programme that could be rolled out to a far greater number of women across the whole Channel.


I feel the programme improved my confidence 100%

I feel it improved my impact and gravitas 89%

I will be able to manage my career more effectively 89%

Percentage of participants who agree

KEY FINDINGS FROM THE PILOT

RISE – A REVIEW OF CHANNEL 4’S WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME RISE – A REVIEW OF CHANNEL 4’S WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME F O R W O M E N RISE

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OUR BRIEF FOR THE RISE PROGRAMME

Before sourcing a partner for our Women’s Development Programme, we made sure we undertook a thorough review of the pilot, as well as consulting widely with stakeholders and agreeing clear objectives and success metrics. We also positioned the programme carefully within the business – giving it a brand name, RISE – and its own identity to help raise the profile of the programme and show the positive impact we wanted this to have for women across Channel 4.

This project represented a major investment for us and we were clear from the start that we were looking for some real and measurable change for the business and for the individuals taking part. Specifically, we wanted to:

• Create a powerful collective of 200+ women ready to support each other and drive impact through the business

• Ensure line managers understood the role they play in developing female talent and being advocates for them

• Give participants the support they needed to feel motivated and energised to own their careers, take control of their futures and actively set their sights on achieving greater seniority

• Create real and sustainable cultural change – by leveraging internal support and sponsorship

Following a thorough competitive process we chose to partner with Shine for Women – building on the ‘Inner Self, Outer Self’ approach we had taken in the pilot, we were convinced by the Shine for Women philosophy that for women to be truly inspired, motivated and successful, it’s essential to consider the whole person, not just the parts that are required at work.

They proposed an approach that was designed to maximise the potential of individuals and deliver personal impact, with participants challenged and coached to build a bigger vision and plan for themselves that would give renewed energy and focus to their professional lives and personal ambitions.



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What happened at the events?Over one or two days, all three cohorts took part in a journey that was built around 4 core modules:

Know Yourself These sessions focussed on raising self-awareness, by asking people to focus on what was important to them and deifying what was in – and outside – their comfort zone

Devising your bigger gameThese sessions asked people to think about what they really want from life and to start to build their bold moves

Your BrandThese sessions looked at the impact we have on others and what bold actions we can take

Collective LeadershipThese sessions,which were for Role models and Catalysts, started to shift the emphasis from the individual to the collective by getting people to think about how they would drive forward what they had learned to the wider organisation

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DESIGNING THE RISE PROGRAMME

Working closely with Shine for Women we first agreed the design principles and how we would shape the programme for the different groups of women taking part.

IDENTIFYING KEY THEMES:

We ran focus groups to identify the key development areas that women would like to concentrate on in the programme. The top themes emerging from this research were:

#1 Confidence – aiming to build confidence and resilience by resolving fear and barriers

#2 Control – wanting to take back control of their career and choices

#3 Creating allies – looking to develop a network of female allies across the organisation

CREATING SUPPORTIVE GROUPS

We created three distinct cohorts, to ensure we made an impact at all levels of the business:

• Role models – this was a group of 16 women who were already top female leaders in the business and who as well as benefitting directly from the programme, could also drive a ripple effect throughout Channel 4 and act as future coaches and mentors for women across the channel

• Catalysts – this was a group of 50 future female leaders who we were looking to inspire and motivate to play a bigger game for themselves and for Channel 4, by building a movement of influential women who could create the change they wanted to see

• Energisers – this was the largest group of 150 women who wanted a roadmap for behaviours, and attitudes that would allow them to go big and not be afraid to ask for it

PLANNING THE EVENTS

A two-day residential programme was created for Role models and Catalysts and a one-day workshop was designed for the 150 Energisers. Each session was designed to be an opportunity to step back from the day to day, recalibrate and focus on personal and professional development.

Shine for Women facilitated the events with a series of exercises that focused on building deeper self awareness and clarity about their strengths, as well as helping them to identify any barriers to success and create a set of priorities and

commitments for the future. Importantly they armed the women with a set of simple but effective tools that could be used for their own development and with their teams on return to the business.

INVITING PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE

Having decided on the three cohorts we then worked closely with the business to identify the individuals who should take part. Managers nominated women based on their knowledge of the women’s specific career aspirations and development needs. HR helped calibrate the nominations to ensure consistency across the business.

Our Catalyst cohort

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94% 84% 75%

of Role models felt ready to stretch out of their comfort zone

of Catalysts knew who their allies were and how to ask for support from them

of Energisers had a better sense of how they should use their strengths in the future

FeedbackAt the end of each session we asked participants to provide feedback about the individual exercises and the overall value they had gained from attending. The results show that those who participated really valued the opportunity this programme provided to build confidence, take control and create allies.

Role models

Catalysts Energisers

Confidence

I have a deeper understanding of my strengths

87% 74% 66%

I have a better sense of how I can use my strengths in the future

93% 74% 75%

Control

I feel ready to stretch out of my comfort zone

94% 75% 73%

I will be able to apply what I learnt to my job

87% 88% 67%

Creating allies

I will be able to pass on my learning to other colleagues at Channel 4

87% 87% 69%

I know who my allies are and how to ask for help/support

80% 84% 71%

Percentage of participants who agreed

RISE – A REVIEW OF CHANNEL 4’S WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME




It allowed me to formulate my thoughts and next steps and to build a network of allies and supporters

It’s given me a new-found enthusiasm and passion for my job and has dared me to make a positive impact at the Channel

An amazing opportunity to focus on what I wanted, be pushed to make big moves and feel supported in what I want to achieve

We were all hungry for this – and I’m sure it is going to make a huge difference to our lives I have come away feeling confident and empowered to make decisions

that I have been putting off. The programme has helped me to focus on what I want and what I need to get it.

I found the experience very enlightening, emotional but also so needed,

especially at this stage of my life and career

The personal values exercise I found really enlightening

Really great to network and meet people from around the business

I felt the course was brilliant at making me look at my life, goals and

frustrations and I really welcomed the chance for self-reflection and to connect with others.

Role models

Catalysts

Energisers

We also asked open ended questions where attendees had the chance to reflect on what they had found particularly useful or valuable. We have included a selection of their feedback:


Top picture: Two Catalysts sharing feedback Below picture: Our Role model group


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In order to make the most of our investment we wanted to prepare the business for the impact of this programme.

In the run up to the events we worked closely with the managers of the women who were attending and created a support network that aimed to build their management capability and help them explore the role that they play in managing female talent.

All managers took part in a half day meeting where the programme was explained to them and they had a chance to discuss the likely impact and to think about how they could support the women who worked for them as they aimed to deliver against their bold moves.

In their sessions all the women were encouraged to meet with their managers, with the feedback suggesting that the vast majority had either done this already or were planning to do this soon:

I met my line manager as soon as I returned from the course to explain what I would be doing to carry forward what I had learnt

I have had a conversation with my manager about my time on the course and how I want to proceed along my own path going forward. I’ve learnt to be more open and honest and to not shy away from what I have learned

It’s going to be the catalyst for a discussion about my role and where I sit in the team and the wider organisation. It’s long overdue but this has given me the confidence to have it

I will talk her through my plan – she’s an ally!

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Taking the experience back to the business I will be meeting with my manager to

share the learnings of the course and present my bold move with practical steps on how to achieve it



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Measuring success

Lessons learnt

As with any culture-based programme, we understand that it will take time to be able to measure the long-term success of this initiative.

We are also aware that this is only one of the many ways we need to address the underlying issues illustrated by our gender pay gap. To help us to understand the value of the RISE programme we have put in place a number of mid-term metrics that we will track over the next 12 months:

Success criteria Measured by

Attrition rates – number of leavers HR Data

Number of women that have moved into lateral roles

HR Data

Number of women that have become a mentor / mentee

HR Data/ Survey

Increase in female promotions HR Data

Increase in female internal candidates / shortlists

HR Data

Increase in female confidence, self-belief and resilience

Post survey – individual line manager feedback

Increase in confidence to drive career


Increase in confidence to have key conversations


Increase in line managers performance in leading women / teams – quality of appraisals etc

Post survey – individual line manager feedback; HOD / Exec feedback

Alongside the quantitative measures, we have also taken time to gather feedback from stakeholders and reflect on what went well with the RISE programme and what we might do differently next time.

THINGS THAT WENT WELL:

• A great team effort – led well by L&D initiative, but involving many different groups across the business and positioned as a business initiative with strong senior sponsorship

• Maintained good momentum – managing to deliver a big project in a relatively short space of time and with some significant urgency drivers

• Gave managers a mechanism to start talking about performance and have conversations where there was a tangible outcome

THINGS WE MIGHT DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME:

• Give the programme a greater profile with channel wide communication

• Be clearer about the nomination process and why people were or weren’t selected

• Ask more of the business in terms of managing the process and timelines

• Think carefully about who will benefit most from this programme and where it can have the most impact

• Review the logistics and timings around the events themselves



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Next steps for RISE

The events that we ran during 2018 are just the start of our commitment to women’s development at Channel 4. We want women and men to be equal in the workplace and we aim to be at the vanguard of that, living up to our aspiration to be a truly inclusive organisation.

Working closely with the women who participated in the 2018 RISE events we have developed several ways that the cohorts and networks can continue to work together and build on the relationships and skills they learned together. These include:

STRETCH PROJECTS

The women attending the events came out with lots of ideas for what might need to change to make Channel 4 a better place for women to work and succeed.

We are working with the Role Models and Catalysts to turn these ideas into stretch projects that they can work on together– raising visibility for participants and helping to reinforce the strength of the womens network.

RISE ALUMNI NETWORK

We are looking to develop ways to enable the women who attended the RISE events to create work and social forums where they can reunite and share their learnings and celebrate successes together.


RISE – A REVIEW OF CHANNEL 4’S WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME RISE – A REVIEW OF CHANNEL 4’S WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME F O R W O M E N RISE

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F O R W O M E N RISE

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We’ve been absolutely delighted to run the RISE women’s development programme for over 200 of our female members of staff. This programme is one of the key actions we put in place to enable our women to develop and grow into senior roles across the organisation. You’ll have seen throughout this report the positive impact that the RISE events have had on the women who took part.

Now I’m looking forward to seeing the changes this brings to our culture – creating an environment where everyone can reach their full potential and which respects, embraces and harnesses the uniqueness of individuals and their talents.

Alex Mahon CEO

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Documents

A review of Channel 4’s Women’s Development Programme · 2019-09-16 · Investing in women’s development – the approach we took 6 Taking the experience back to the business